Kiren Rijiju shares interview of retired judge who says Supreme Court 'hijacked' Constitution by deciding to appoint judges itself

Kiren Rijiju shared the video of an interview of Justice R.S. Sodhi (retd.) saying it is “voice of a judge” and that majority of people have similar “sane views”

Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on January 22 sought to support the views of a retired high court judge, who said the Supreme Court “hijacked” the Constitution by deciding to appoint judges itself.

The government and the judiciary have been at loggerheads over the process of appointment of judges to the higher judiciary, Mr. Rijiju shared the video of an interview of Justice R.S. Sodhi (retd.), a former judge of the Delhi Court, saying it is “voice of a judge” and that majority of people have similar “sane views”.

Justice Sodhi said the right to frame laws lies with Parliament.

The Law Minister also said that “actually majority of the people have similar sane views. It’s only those people who disregard the provisions of the Constitution and mandate of the people think that they are above the Constitution of India”. “Real beauty of Indian Democracy is its success. People rule themselves through their representatives.Elected representatives represent the interests of the People & make laws. Our Judiciary is independent and our Constitution is Supreme,” the Minister tweeted.

In the interview, Justice Sodhi also said the apex court cannot frame laws as it does not have the right to do so. The right to frame laws belongs to Parliament, he said.

“... Whether you can amend the Constitution? Only Parliament will amend Constitution. But here I feel the Supreme Court for the first time ‘hijacked’ the Constitution. After ‘hijacking’ they [SC] said that we will appoint [judges] ourselves and the government will have no role in it,” Justice Sodhi said in Hindi.

The appointment of judges to the Supreme Court and the high courts has become a major flashpoint between the Executive and the Judiciary.